Bristol is a divided city today after a mystery person announced they were organising a game of ‘The Floor is Lava’ in Ikea.

A Facebook page and an event has been started for the game, which is apparently being scheduled for next year at the Swedish home and furniture store in Eastville.

But the response to the announcement has been mixed and divided the city - between people who are just a tad sceptical about the whole thing, and the people who are letting their excitement about the prospect overtake any doubts they may have of its legitimacy.

The event, allegedly planned for February 22 between 7pm and 9pm, is unofficial, and Ikea takes a dim view of people who arrange things like games of hide and seek or attempts to hide in the store and have sleepovers overnight.

The game ‘The Floor is Lava’ involves players having to avoid touching the ground after someone calls ‘the floor is lava!’ - and moving around by clambering across furniture or the architecture of the room.

The game allegedly planned for Ikea involves people going through the store without touching the floor.

“The game is simple,” one of the anonymous organisers said. “You have to get through Ikea, starting at the entrance and finishing at the tills.”

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The event has attracted 1,500 people pledging to take part already - in just a day or so since the event page was set up, with another 12,000 expressing an interest.

Some people on the page are taking the idea very seriously.

“I think some firm rules need to be established, although I’m unsure how far a group of over-excited adults will get whilst attempting to climb over shelving and furniture… security may pose an issue for us,” said Facebook user ‘Quiet Lydia’.

“We need a strategy,” she added. “Escalators allowed? Being pushed in or on trolleys? Do we have a floor is lava rule book to consult? Are you getting how much I want this to be real.”

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The event is definitely not an official Ikea-endorsed one.

That question of whether the event is a real one is taxing many of those who have signed up to take part.

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But with a couple of weeks to go before the date itself, the event page suddenly changed to a gig for a band at the Thunderbolt pub in Totterdown.

While some people were annoyed, many hailed the hoax as a genius marketing stunt because tens of thousands of people were made aware of the band who otherwise would not have done.

Bristol band Waved Albatross

Either ‘The Floor is Lava’ Ikea game is a genuine attempt to stage a cheeky game in Ikea, or it’s a hoax at some point between now and February, the organisers will use the ‘edit’ function on an event to change it completely.

The phenomenon of the Ikea Sleepover is real, however, and is said to have begun in Bristol more than 10 years ago, and went around the world.

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So many people were trying to copy the idea - and several YouTube videos showed some who were successful - that two years ago, Ikea was forced to issue a global warning that they would call the police and prosecute people attempting it.

Bristol Live contacted the organisers of the Floor Is Lava event, and they said they would respond ‘soon’.